A-Troupe Escape (Room), If You Like Pina Coladas
by mmthemesq
Summary: Just how *did* Emily and Michelle come up with the Escape Room in 6x23?


**More explanation of the theories on my TNS Meta Tumblr (under a tag I haven't completed and TNS will probably be cancelled before I get there, so I'm releasing this early... I initially wrote this when season 6 aired)**

Sat at the desk she shared with Emily in Studio A Michelle sighed and drew her designated Co-Studio Head planner (she'd bought it and then got wrapped up in a ten minute conversation over the phone about the idea with a hyperexcited Emily-apparently she'd missed out on a _diary for Dance Captains(!) or something like that_ so her book became a planner/diary—Em insisted) closer to herself. Her partner had nipped downstairs to get them drinks. She looked at the only four words she'd scribbled on the page because she refused to go home, with nothing—

Shakes and Ladders. Us.

—and suddenly understood Emily's need for space.

The escape room was Michelle's idea, and while they did have more experience with resolving conflicts than most, how were they supposed to put their entire relationship in a room? Or—did it already live there? _What with a mind of its own?_ Michelle scoffed even as the thought crossed her mind. She paused. Emily _had_ suggested both of them. Not together, though it looked like she'd suggested Shakes and Ladders and had to mentally bite her tongue—it was weird.

What Michelle had thought was _"Welcome to Shakes and Ladders. We have a checkered past."_ could have been _"Welcome to Shakes and Ladders, we have a checkered past."_ She laughed to herself. She might not have a business degree like her Co-Studio Head but even she knew that businesses weren't plural. —_Wait they weren't right_?!

She shook her head. They'd been _fighting-but-not-really_ at the time, still getting used to the idea that they could—pull punches—_should_, if they didn't want to regret them later. Even if... But nothing good came from thinking like that. They were trying to move on. Right, right. _Moving on._

Alright. Fine.

So Emily was the brains behind the latest juice bar-urban store-coffee shop-juice bar. And she hadn't tried, between pushing Michelle to attend a job interview with her for the same position and, oh—_grovelling_... to hide that she wanted to make up for what she'd done before, Emily would probably call it _'past amends'_. They were partners again, and she _liked Michelle_—even without being Co-Studio Heads, which they weren't at the time.

No they ran the juice bar.

Figuring out their relationship beyond what they were working on was hard. Michelle liked her a lot. Like a lot, a lot—she might love her but her own track record wasn't exactly great. So, she liked Emily. _A lot_. But now what? Michelle had asked her to prom, literally unable to think of a more romantic gesture. Emily never called after, that was _fine_ and _she was fine_.

So why was the whole escape room awkward?

Suddenly irritated, Michelle pushed herself up from her chair and marched toward Shakes and Ladders, determined to give her maddening, wonderful _clueless_ Co-Studio Head a piece of her mind.

She stopped short at the door, her anger instantly evaporated.

Emily was sat on the counter, looking towards the dartboard deep in thought—which was now next to the sofa—two coffees cooling rapidly beside her.

"Hey."

Her Co-Studio Head started, a blush creeping over her cheeks.

"I was coming back." Michelle smiled and sat next to Emily, shoulder to shoulder.

"I probably should have come down here earlier. This is where we plan to trap them, right?"

Emily looked at her. "If we don't want them to spend all their time complaining to us instead of bonding over... whatever ingenious ideas we come up with." They chuckled quietly, smiling. "Did you bring the book?" She whispered.

"No." Michelle responded at the same volume, unsure of why they were whispering. Emily's eyes widened and she reached back too casually to the coffee, holding it out to Michelle with forced gaiety. _Maybe..._ Michelle wondered if Emily wasn't into her.

"We need to concentrate, right?" Michelle looked at her, she was smiling like she'd just promised another _Dytto_. Her very capable and proud—actually one of the most proud people she knew... Emily had _grovelled_. Not just apologised. _Grovelled_. Emily, _grovelling_. It still sounded bizarre and it had lasted over a week.

Realising she was being rude, Michelle took her cup with a grin. "Thanks for this."

Emily laughed slightly with relief, immediately turning back to her own coffee. Michelle beamed. They were a good team for sure.

Michelle hopped lightly off the counter and over to the dartboard, admiring it between sips of coffee. Emily made the best lactose-free coffee, alright? She could split her attention to an extent. And the silence felt comfortable again.

It was... nice.

"So! I've been thinking we'll start with the Shakes and Ladders wall." Michelle looked fondly across at her partner who was already choosing a card from—a stack she'd just pulled out of her pocket.

"You've already planned this whole thing, haven't you?" Emily paused, looking back at the wall and then to Michelle.

"I need your help." Michelle smiled, putting down her coffee and walked over to her Co-Studio Head.

"Always." _No_, Michelle observed, _Emily's blush hasn't gone yet. It's cute. She's_—

"Lift me onto the wall?"

O..._kay_. Not what Michelle was expecting but still, sure.

She kicked off her flats and sprung lightly onto the sofa, holding her nearest hand out to Emily, who rolled her eyes, grabbing it with a smile. She looked Michelle over, probably making sure her footing was secure, Michelle reasoned, as Emily nodded and joined her straight after.

Michelle stepped obediently and confidently into Emily's space and easily lifted her—arms securely locked around her waist. She heard the snick of a card being slipped into place above her head.

"Next!" Michelle carefully stepped off the sofa, lowering her Co-Studio Head with an unexpected twirl. Emily tightened her grip on Michelle's shoulders even as she gave an exaggerated eye-roll—Michelle would _not_ rattle her. Michelle beamed at her, inherently understanding both Emily's meaning, and the fact that it had no real basis. Michelle could get under her skin and they both knew it.

Emily huffed in annoyance and neither made any attempt to move, or to take their eyes off one another.

Emily lightly shook her head and let go of Michelle.

Michelle refocused. "Next?"

"Shoes."

"Next?" She deadpanned.

"You'd know if you helped me with this."

"I didn't know. You weren't even going to let me help you had I not come down here!"

"Michelle? _I_ didn't tell _you_. So get rid of any ideas you may or could later have about beating yourself up over that and _make yourself useful_." Emily took her hand and pulled her back to the counter. She pulled two more cards from her pocket. "Put this card," Emily pushed a glittery rainbow supernova on a rectangle in to her left hand, "under that blender there and this one—" a second card was handed to her in her other hand, "in the chess set while I tape this one under a table over there." She walked off to grab some tape.

Michelle peered at them. Wait a second. Were they—

"Yes, they are customised cards and no you can't open them." Emily called from the pantry.

Michelle shoved the cards in their designated places and sulked on the sofa. After everything they'd been through, Emily still didn't trust her? She'd said she was proud to be Co-Studio Heads with her—what a lie that was.

"What's wrong with you?" Emily lightly touched her shoulder. Michelle jumped up from the sofa, all of a sudden craving space between them. She leant back and tapped the magnetic dartboard with the back of her knuckles, more harshly than she'd intended. Emily looked at her like she'd just developed a second head but didn't interrupt what she was about to say.

"What's so interesting about this dartboard, anyway?"

Emily sighed. "You're easily distracted by not knowing things, I'll explain the clues and how they relate to the choreo cards later." Michelle waved away her Co-Studio Head's concern. "About the dartboard, though? Nothing particular. It was just the first thing that came to me, you know—when I was creating the new theme and design for Shakes and Ladders."

Michelle nodded. "Since I'm distracted by not knowing things according to you..." Michelle _was_ curious, damn it!

"Well I'd been thinking about my time at The Next Step—before acronyms became all the rage outside business and academics... and texting, come to think of it. And I just—well I've been thinking about the choices I made as Dance Captain since, oh, the day you overthrew me. What I would have done differently, what did you do that I could learn from, how we both bring different things to the table..." Michelle looked around her in disbelief. _She'd taught Emily to blend fruit_! It wasn't exactly a fair judge of character. She cast her mind to the studio. Leaving The Next Step after Regionals seemed more and more like the right thing to do.

"That's what you brought to the troupe—when we were still in it even... fun. The enjoyment of doing things you love just for the sake of doing them. Understanding that—that kind of letting loose is important. I never got that before you arriv—became Dance Captain." Michelle looked at her partner, Emily had grown so much in the time she'd known her. Professionally she'd be fine. Finer than fine.

"_Great." "Great!" "...Great!"_

"If you were wondering," Emily continued. "I'd have asked you to be my Co-Dance Captain earlier. Still would have 'won' the dance captaincy in that very fair, entirely fun dance battle where I demonstrated the utmost sportsmanship and _absolutely did not snap in your face_.

Hence the dartboard."

_Wait, what?_

"You don't get it? Don't worry, it took me... about four years to understand it myself. Dance is a sport, and an art-form, but it's fun too. As I've... already said. Anyway, if you get too caught up in rules and regulations—don't get me wrong, I like both—a lot... but if you get too caught up in those, and the idea that it's all or nothing... I've lost you."

"Well—yeah."

Emily shook her head. "Bragging rights."

"Oh. Approachable but still competitive?" Michelle sighed deeply. "This entire place is you."

"Us."

"But-"

"Trust me."

"I do."

Emily smiled at her. "Good. Now go lock the door and waltz with me. You're leading, by the way."

"Heh, that's really sweet of you but I haven't agreed—" Michelle stopped talking when Emily looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

Yeah, okay.

Door closed and automatically locked (how was Emily dealing with this, wasn't she claustrophobic?) they stood next to the footsteps, mirroring their dance hold at prom. _Had Emily even danced before prom, since her injury?_

Michelle moved as closely to her partner as she could without throwing out their stance and rubbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Just put one foot in front of the other." Emily nodded and they danced expertly—even smiling genuinely at each other and they'd been arguing less than a few minutes before—over the mat until they heard a click.

"It worked, the door's open!" Emily said, evidently relieved. She beamed and stretched up slightly to peck Michelle on what Michelle had assumed would be her cheek. When Emily's lips lightly brushed hers, she was caught completely off guard.

It didn't matter. Emily was already back in business mode by the time Michelle realised what had happened. Maybe Emily had intended to kiss her cheek and missed because she was too embarrassed to factor in their height difference? Michelle didn't think she'd ever fully understand her partner. _Although_, she reflected, it was nice to come close from time to time. Really nice. Really _really_ nice. Really really _really_ nice—all the really's in the entire universe _ever_ and nice.

Emily huffed and waved a hand in front of Michelle's face.

"Okay! We'll try this _again_. The dancers are going to be here in _half an hour_. Get that briefcase, I guess that you got when you created TNS West? Put the red envelope inside it and hide it behind _one_ of those chairs. I will open our cutouts and attach the final choreo clue. If you write down the combination to your briefcase and the most prevalent issues with the team members I'll finalise the first set of clues. Then, maybe upstairs we can talk about the clues for A-Troupe?" Emily shifted nervously. "...Look I can't really talk about it before we set everything up." Michelle smiled at her. Emily nodded and left to get the cutouts, Michelle instantly forgotten.

Michelle grinned lopsidedly—it was probably a late realisation, but she'd never been happier.


End file.
